EQ S C I E N C E
HORSE TECH TRAILBLAZERS Trusted DIGITAL SOLUTIONS.
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s the creator of The Tech Equestrian blog, I’ve covered the horse tech space for more than four years, and I’ve seen solutions come and go. However, a select group took the risk, overcame the challenges, and continued delivering value in a “slow to adopt” horse industry. Equo Equine Transport App: Equine transport redefined
The Equo Equine Transport App was founded in 2016 by a group of grand prix riders and professionals who knew there had to be a solution to the old-school, tedious way of booking horse transport. Faced with reluctance to adopt technology, especially for businesses, they modeled the app after consumer favorites Uber and Expedia. With familiar user interfaces, equestrians quickly fell in love with Equo’s easy-to-navigate, track, and pay solution. As a result, the app has grown rapidly over the years. The team at Equo introduced a twoway rating system for users to provide immediate feedback. This input has allowed Equo to meet the needs of owners and horses efficiently. Equestrian professionals are very discerning about service and providers, in every aspect of their horses’ lives. Equo’s shipping partners are all licensed, insured equine professionals and rely on a vast network of MOT/DOT legitimate transport providers. Equo meets the very high expectations of equestrians who want the best for their horses every single trip. The Equo app is available on iOS and Android. BarnManager: Made for barn managers, by barn managers
94 | EQ UE S T R I A N L I V IN G | J U LY / AU GU S T | 2022
BY JULIANA CHAPMAN
BarnManager came on the scene in 2012 and was re-launched in 2017 by its founder, equestrian Nicole Lakin. Nicole’s mission is to help make life easier for the hardest working people in the horse business by offering an all-in-one digital horse care and management solution. Overcoming the hurdles of adoption and skepticism of product longevity, Nicole believes that people both trust and mistrust technology today. Most people feel comfortable storing information in a database and knowing it is safer than a physical notebook, but at the same time are more concerned about who has access to that database. She feels that the horse industry has become more fueled by technology, but there are few solutions for communication. This is a focus for the future of BarnManager. In addition to offering more features and improving existing ones, her goal is to make the digital experience for equestrians seamless. BarnManager is available as a webbased software/cloud-hosted solution. NIGHTWATCH: The world’s first smart halter
Protequus was founded in 2013 and the innovative NIGHTWATCH launched in 2018. Jeffrey R. Schab developed NIGHTWATCH after the sudden loss of one of his horses to colic. His background as a biomedical engineer shaped the creation of a smart halter that monitors real-time biometric and behavior data on horses to alert caretakers to early signs of colic and other forms of distress. A major challenge at launch was introducing a bleeding-edge technology to a market steeped in tradition along with educating customers on the value and
importance of “getting ahead of” versus “reacting to” problems. Given that Fitbit launched its first device in 2009 as an activity tracker with wide popularity has allowed horse-wearable providers to engage with customers differently by drawing on comparisons. Offered as a subscription-based service, NIGHTWATCH is available for a low monthly fee which includes a free smart halter. The smart halter is an IoT-enabled, AI-driven, edge-computing, predictivehealth wearable. The Equestrian App: Helping people help horses
Founder Patrick Husting launched The Equestrian App in 2018. The app allows users to connect with a community of trainers, veterinarians, farriers, boarders, and other providers. All the information is directly stored in the journal so everyone can stay updated on your horse(s). As a software designer by trade, Patrick created the app to use anywhere including in over 100 countries. By listening to his customers, the user experience with the app has improved year over year. Given the growth and usage, there have been system upgrades to support the increase of data from images to journal entries. Once customers get familiar with the app, they take advantage of the journaling feature, which is very important to maintaining healthy horses. The Equestrian App is available on iOS, Android, and desktop. Juliana Chapman is the founder of the Tech Equestrian, a blog launched in 2018 that focuses on technology in the equestrian world. CONTACT INFO | PAGE 95
